Dom and Jarrett

So we have three weeks left in the UK before we go travelling and relocate to Melbourne! Does anyone have any last minute tips?

I have this constant feeling im forgetting something lol

Pollyana

Passports
Visas
Pack the pets
Pack the children
Ship everything including pets and children

Redirect any mail to someone
Sort out bank accounts
transfer cash
Back up ALL paperwork - visas, passports, degree certts, qualifications, school reports etc onto usbs.

Organise somewhere to stay in Aus

Get your phones unlocked

Make sure whatever car is taking you to the airport has room for all your luggage as well as yourselves.

Retire to your favourite pub and drink a lot.

Cancel everything and stay put.........

spouse of scouse

Some good ones and funny ones there Poll

I think Polly's covered most of it - my contribution is don't bring in food, or wood, garden/work tools that haven't been cleaned properly etc etc. Australia has some of the strictest biosecurity legislation in the world and if you bring in/ship anything that doesn't comply it'll either be destroyed (at your cost), or depending what it is you may be offered the choice of having it go through a cleaning process that will cost you heaps. Example, I had a very nice 'faux' tree in my container shipment, Quarantine found a bit of real moss on it and I had the choice of getting it destroyed for $180, or cleaned for over $1,000. Bye bye tree!

The last few weeks before moving are crazy - make a list and cross things off as you complete them. Happy landings and an advance Welcome to Oz

scrubbedexpat020

Don't stress about what you have to do/when/how when you get here. Focus on getting here. Once you're here you're surrounded by people who have done it all before. That was my attitude and it served me well.

https://www.whistleout.com.au/MobilePhones Number portability is pretty good here. Last one I did for my wife took 10mins, mine took it a bit longer: 1hr.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/
https://www.theage.com.au/
https://www.news.com.au/
Online Radio Stations in Victoria the main talk shows are ABC Melbourne and 3AW if you want to start acquiring your Aussie accent.

Wife has just started watching Corrie, which reminds me you will need a VPN/SmartDNS provider to keep up with the soaps. I use Getflix, which I bought cheap on a lifetime licence. Trial some before buying, https://deals.ghacks.net/collections/lifetime-deals.

If you like football, https://www.optus.com.au/for-you/ent...rt/optus-sport. It's thrown in with the Optus package or you can pay $15 if you are with a different ISP. Yes, you get access to every match, if you can wake/stay up. I can't wait for Tranmere to get into the Premier League.

quoll

Dont panic. My mantra is that there is nothing that a passport and a credit card won't cure so be sure to take both with you.

Dom and Jarrett

brilliant thanks Pollyana you made me chuckle. not sure about packing the kids though... looking forward to the pub!!!

Dom and Jarrett

thanks!! and yes true!!!

Dom and Jarrett

thank you!! yes we have had the details from the shipping company and cleansed the house of all forbidden items...fingers crossed we haven't missed anything

brits1

Hi, your vaccination history, UK car insurance details so you can claim " no claims" . Your warm jackets etc, you will need them in winter. All the best for the future

Dom and Jarrett

thank you! we have our medical records and will make sure the warm clothes are packed

bourbon-biscuit

Bring biscuits.
The biscuit aisles are possibly the most disappointing thing about life in Australia.

Dom and Jarrett

Im a jaffa cake girl hoping these are available

bourbon-biscuit

Yes.
But they're not a biscuit.

brits1

i am just visiting my husband in Cairo and he wanted me to bring out macvities chocolate biscuits, chocolate hobnobs, and walkers cheese and onion crisps..all the things we use to ask family and friends to bring with them to Australia when they use to visit us there lol.

Dom and Jarrett

im not trying to start the cake/ biscuit argument

that is GOOD NEWS!!